Ibrahim Ferrer was one of the Buena Vista Social Club's sweeter revelations. Born in 1927, the Kangol-sporting singer brought intimate knowledge of the melodramatic bolero ballad form to Buena Vista's 1997 debut, and his relaxed, aged-in-wood voice—often heard alongside Omara Portuondo—became the multiplatinum revivalists' signature sound. Decades earlier, Ferrer specialized in uptempo guarachas and sones, which he sang until his short-lived retirement in 1991. Ferrer's elegant voice of experience became a global treasure until his death in 2005.